Picking a Speech Therapist
For me, the fundamental difference to success was having a speech-language pathologist who understood how to treat a person who stutters, not just the stuttering.
The Stuttering Foundation, lists a great series of questions you should ask therapists when you interview them.
- How comfortable are you with treating stuttering? This is important because some speech pathologists are not comfortable working with stuttering.
- How many teens and adults who stutter have you worked with? This will help you determine whether the speech pathologist has the kind of experience you need.
- What do you think the primary goals of stuttering therapy should be for a teen/adult? This will help you decide whether the speech pathologist's ideas about goals match your own.
- What approaches do you use in speech therapy? How often is therapy scheduled? This will help you determine a schedule that works for you and helps you remain focused. [31]
Feel free to ask any other question you need in order to feel comfortable with your chosen therapist.
[31] "Why Speech Therapy", n.d., http://www.stutteringhelp.org/Default.aspx?tabid=148."